Extra Hacking

Month: January 2025

  • US Government sued after mass emails to federal workforce allegedly sent from insecure server – Computerworld

    US Government sued after mass emails to federal workforce allegedly sent from insecure server – Computerworld

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    The OPM, of course, has form when it comes to data security. In 2015, it detected a huge data breach affecting 22.1 million employee records, including PII such as social security numbers. That led to Congressional hearings and several government reports that identified a depressing list of underlying causes.

    But with this history in mind, the idea that an unknown party could simply plug their email server into the OPM network without security vetting of either the server itself or its data collection and storage routines will astonish anyone in cybersecurity.

    The incident suggests a culture where speed and shock matters above all. It’s not clear how many employees were forewarned that the emails might turn up but asking employees to reply to an email or click on a link is lax in an era of phishing attacks. That’s before considering the possibility that the email server or its data might itself be targeted.

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  • Indian media houses rally against OpenAI over copyright dispute – Computerworld

    Indian media houses rally against OpenAI over copyright dispute – Computerworld

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    The legal battle in India is reflective of global trends. In the US, OpenAI has faced lawsuits from authors, visual artists, musicians, and news organizations for allegedly training AI models with copyrighted content. In response, the company has initiated partnerships with major international outlets to mitigate future disputes.

    Industry leaders and legal experts are closely watching the case for its implications on AI regulation and copyright laws. If Indian courts uphold the publishers’ demands, OpenAI and similar firms could be compelled to either enter licensing agreements in India or overhaul their training data practices to avoid legal entanglements.

    The outcome of this case could redefine the balance between innovation in AI and the rights of content creators, making India a critical battlefield in the global AI copyright debate. With Indian publishers and global precedents shaping the debate, OpenAI’s case serves as a pivotal moment in framing AI’s obligations in using proprietary content. As the AI industry continues its exponential growth, aligning technological advancements with robust intellectual property protections will be key to fostering sustainable innovation.

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  • Meta wants everyone to know that it, too, is investing a lot in AI

    Meta wants everyone to know that it, too, is investing a lot in AI

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    In his Facebook post this week, Zuckerberg wrote that Meta will also “significantly” grow out its AI teams and will build an “AI engineer” AI agent that will contribute code to Meta’s R&D efforts. Planned investments for this year already represent a 50% increase over the company’s 2024 spending, and Zuckerberg noted, “we have the capital to continue investing in the years ahead.”

    His announcement comes just four days after OpenAI dropped its “Stargate Project” bombshell, and four days before Meta’s planned fourth-quarter financial reporting on Jan. 29. It also follows on the heels of US President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order on AI that specifically revokes previous administration policies that he said “act as barriers to American AI innovation.”

    “This will be a defining year for AI,” Zuckerberg wrote in his Facebook post, also saying he expects that Meta AI will be the world’s “leading assistant,” serving more than 1 billion people, and that Llama 4 will become the “leading state-of-the-art model.”

    “This is a massive effort, and over the coming years it will drive our core products and business, unlock historic innovation, and extend American technology leadership,” he wrote. “Let’s go build!”

    Big tech racing to build the data centers of the future

    Undoubtedly one of the biggest stories out of the tech world this week was the US President Donald Trump-endorsed Stargate Project, an ambitious, $500 billion initiative to build out AI infrastructure in the US for OpenAI over the next four years. It is an industry collaboration, with participation from OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, MGX, Arm, Nvidia and Microsoft, and will deploy $100 billion “immediately,” OpenAI said in a blog post earlier this week.

    Other industry players are investing as well. Microsoft has announced its intent to spend $80 billion in fiscal year 2025, more than half of which will be in the US. Amazon continues to pour money into data centers — including $11 billion in new infrastructure in Georgia — and says it will exceed its $75 billion 2024 capex expenditures. And other leading data infrastructure companies like Databricks and Snowflake continue to invest billions.

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  • Everything you need to know – Computerworld

    Everything you need to know – Computerworld

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    Here’s the first big catch: The newly expanded paid 365 plans don’t give you unlimited access to Microsoft’s AI features. Instead, you get a monthly allotment of credits that Microsoft says “…should be enough for most subscribers.” In practice, that appears to be 60 credits per month — meaning you can use AI features 60 times per month. After that, you’ll need to pay for a $20-per-month Copilot Pro subscription to keep using those AI features.

    Copilot added to Word
    You’ll see an informational pop-up window the first time you open an app like Word.

    Chris Hoffman, IDG

    Note: These AI credits are actually shared across various other Microsoft apps — including for AI image generation in Designer, Paint, and Photos and text-editing work in Notepad. They’re not just for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

    Plus, again, Microsoft is raising its 365 subscription prices, with Copilot bundled into the mix. They’re going up by $3 per month in the US, though the exact price increase will vary by country. For the yearly plans in the US, Microsoft 365 Family goes from $100 to $130 per year, and Microsoft 365 Personal goes from $70 to $100 per year.

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  • How Apple is in the race for workplace AI – Computerworld

    How Apple is in the race for workplace AI – Computerworld

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    Tomorrow’s world

    Tomorrow’s employees have grown up with that tech, meaning Gen Z is also set to be Generation AI. This is going to become increasingly important to business users, who will need to make the right investments today to ensure they have appropriate tech (including experience and policy) in place. 

    This is something that’s evidently important to device, service, and operating system vendors, as each and every one of them is now engaged in a rapid sprint to deploy AI in their offerings. Apple, of course, is a little unique in that it is attempting to weave privacy into the systems it provides, including Apple Intelligence, something that will be seen as of increasing importance to business users as they seek to lock down their information, both in competitive terms and also to meet data protection requirements. 

    For digital natives, privacy is a currency they want to control

    It’s interesting to see how Generation Z sees privacy. These digital natives want to control the digital narrative concerning their lives, have grown up with the internet, and are more likely to digest information in video than written form. 

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  • Support for Microsoft 365 on Windows 10 ends in mid-October – Computerworld

    Support for Microsoft 365 on Windows 10 ends in mid-October – Computerworld

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    The blog post raised numerous questions, and has since been deleted by Microsoft. However, there was no correction or explanation.

    What the software giant was actually getting at is shown by a support page on the subject that was updated in December. Here, too, Microsoft points out that Microsoft 365 apps will no longer be supported under Windows 10 after the end of support in mid-October. At the same time, however, the company explains that the applications will continue to work as before. However, to avoid performance and reliability problems over time, an upgrade to Windows 11 is strongly recommended.

    The reasoning: “Microsoft 365 is subject to the Modern Lifecycle Policy, which requires that customers keep the product or service up to date according to maintenance and system requirements and use Microsoft 365 on a Windows operating system for which support is currently provided.”

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  • At CES, PC makers aim for business, highlight AI-ready hardware

    At CES, PC makers aim for business, highlight AI-ready hardware

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    Enterprise computers are often the ugly ducklings of the PC world, viewed as dull, slow and less feature-rich than their consumer counterparts. But vendors at last week’s Consumer laptop Show launched a selection of business machines (alongside their consumer offerings) hoping to capitalize on the rise of generative AI (genAI). 

    Despite the focus on AI PCs or Copilot+ PCs, analysts said the vendors might be a bit ahead of the market.

    “I liken it to the dot.com era,” said Tom Butler, executive director of portfolio and product management for Lenovo’s worldwide commercial notebook business. “…When the dot.com era kicked off, companies immediately said, ‘I need a dot.com instance.’ …So, it’s very much like that right now. Companies, as we move into this AI PC era, [say] ‘I need an AI PC.’”

    Here’s a look at some of the noteworthy business PCs announced at CES 2025 and analysis of whether vendors are hitting the mark for enterprise customers.

    Asus

    In addition to its Zenbook and Republic of Gamers (ROG) offerings, Asus unveiled the enterprise-focused ExpertBook B5, ExpertBook B3, ExpertCenter P400 AiO, and ExpertCenter P500. Although they’re not Copilot+ PCs (their neural processing unit (NPU) isn’t powerful enough), they qualify as AI PCs; both B5 and B3 laptops include Intel vPro for manageability and have passed the MIL-STD 810H durability tests. Neither is super light, tipping the scales at about 3 pounds.

    The B5 supports up to 64GB of RAM and up to a 2TB SSD with RAID support, has an all-metal design, 16-in. screen, and security features including a fingerprint reader, facial recognition, and a smart card reader. 

    The B3 has either a 14-in. or 16-in. display, supports up to 64GB of RAM and up to 1TB storage in dual SSDs. And it offers a variety of ports — USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, and even an Ethernet port. (The B5 lacks Ethernet, unless you have a USB dongle.)

    On the desktop side, the ExpertCenter AiO (all-in-one) comes in two models, one with a 27-in. display, the other with a 24-in. screen. The P500 is a mini tower supporting up to 64GB of RAM and up to 4TB storage on one SSD and one hard drive. 

    Dell

    While Dell’s rebranding plans, announced at CES, might be a bit perplexing, the company did introduce several new Dell Pro models “designed for professional-grade productivity.” They come in several flavors: Base, Plus, and Premium, and all qualify as Copilot+ PCs, based on their specs.

    At the Base level, there are the Dell Pro 14 and Dell Pro 16, designed to “deliver essential performance for everyday productivity,” Dell said. They feature Intel Core Ultra 5 processors, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and screen resolution of 1920×1200 pixels. 

    The company also announced Dell Pro desktops, powered by either Intel or AMD processors, available in micro, slim, and tower form factors. They are, Dell said, the company’s first commercial desktops with NPUs.

    One step up are the Dell Pro 13/14/16 Plus, with up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. They come in laptop or 2-in-1 form factors and use the same system BIOS to make ordering and management easier for IT departments. Dell claims up to 18.2 hours of battery life for the Pro 14 Plus, and 12.6 hours for the Pro 16 Plus.

    At the top of the heap are the Dell Pro 13/14 Premium models. They’re the slimmest and lightest member sof the Pro portfolio, starting at 2.36 pounds. The Dell Pro 13 Premium offers up to 20.8 hours of battery life; the Pro 14 Premium provides up to 21.2 hours. Each can be ordered with an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, up to 32GB RAM and up to 1TB of storage. 

    HP

    HP’s EliteBook line expanded with the company’s announcement of a trio of Copilot+ PCs. The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i Next Gen AI PC is, HP said, designed for executives, with its 14-in. UWVA OLED screen on the Intel-powered model. (The Qualcomm model offers WLED screen technology.) They can have up to 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB of storage for the Intel version, or 1TB of storage for the Qualcomm version. HP touted “studio quality” microphones and a 9-megapixel camera for high quality video calls.

    The HP EliteBook X Flip G1i Next Gen AI PC has multiple use modes, including laptop, tablet, and tent configurations, with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB of storage. Like the Ultra G1i, it has a 14-in. screen, although touch comes standard (it’s an option on the G1i) and it’s a WLED display, not OLED. 

    The HP EliteBook X G1i Next Gen AI PC is powered by either Intel or AMD chips. The Intel model can hold up to 32GB of RAM; the AMD version offers up to 64GB. Both models can have up to 2TB of storage.

    The EliteBook X machines will be available in March, with HP saying only that the Ultra G1i is “coming soon.”

    Lenovo

    Lenovo launched an impressive array of devices, and the two models specifically aimed at businesses both contained surprises.

    The ThinkPad X9 14- and 15-in. Aura Editions are sleek, thin and light notebooks tested to meet MIL-SPEC 810H standards. Lenovo claims all-day battery life,and says the machines are designed to allow easy servicing of the battery and SSD. They offer up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

    One thing, however, is missing: the X9 is the first ThinkPad to forego the trackstick. Lenovo hastened to note that it’s just for this model — other ThinkPads will continue to have the trademark red nub in the middle of their keyboards.

    Two years ago, Lenovo showcased a laptop concept with a rollable screen; this year, that concept became a reality. The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable’s 14-in screen expands upwards at the touch of a button, growing to 16.7 inches and providing 50% more screen space. As with the other new models, it offers up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

    It is not a budget-friendly device, though; prices start at $3,500.

    AI a gimmick?

    As for whether these systems meet enterprise needs, analysts weighed in on what they’re seeing in the current PC market — and they were somewhat dismissive of the AI hype.

    “Current AI features are over-hyped and largely invisible or are seen as ‘that’s nice to have’ to business unless the users are proactive in finding more detailed features,” said Ranjit Atwal, senior director analyst at Gartner. “All in all, businesses are unlikely to pay more than 5% above normal prices for an AI PC.”

    “I think the AI laptops are a gimmick for the most part, efforts by the OEMs to stay relevant and bottle lightning if they can,” said Jeremy Roberts, senior research director at Info-Tech Research Group. “I have yet to have any of my enterprise or mid-market clients profess to be excited or tell me they’re changing their refresh cycle or anything to incorporate AI features at the PC level.”

    IDC’s Ryan Reith, group vice president, Worldwide Device Trackers, said he saw some interest in AI PCs early in 2024, but noted it has since waned.

    “What we gathered throughout most of last year, especially  around the middle of the year, is that large enterprises and most developed markets around the world were allocating budget for these genAI PCs,” Reith said. That enthusiasm declined in the second part of 2024 amid concerns that Microsoft and its partners had not delivered on expectations.

    What’s important to enterprises

    According to Roberts, genAI features have not excited the enterprises he deals with. “Things that excite enterprises are Autopilot compatibility for seamless deployment, TPM chips for encryption, specialized screens to limit viewing angles, decently powerful CPUs/GPUs depending on the use case, and repairability,” he said. 

    “I don’t think AI features even make the top 10,” Roberts said. “Most organizations won’t be consuming AI features locally anyway — they’ll use cloud services like CoPilot or Gemini.”

    Reith cited feedback from the head of commercial sales for a large OEM who said with tightened budgets and uncertainly about what can be achieved with genAI PCs, companies are shifting their spending to mid-range computers. They don’t qualify as Copilot+ devices, but are still very good PCs.

    “If you get 200 PCs at a mainstream level, as opposed to 50 at a premium level, they’re going more towards the 200,” he said.

    Roberts agreed: “Modern laptops are generally more than capable of handling the typical knowledge worker’s day-to-day. A Dell Latitude 5000 or 7000 (Dell Pro now?) series or a run-of-the-mill ThinkPad from Lenovo won’t struggle with Slack, Teams, or PowerPoint.”

    As for what corporate users want, size and weight are often key, Reith said — and companies are now listening to their employees rather than choosing what they think they want.

     “The thin and light PCs are the trend,” Atwal said, adding, “businesses essentially want to future proof their PCs with AI capabilities so [want to] have them include an NPU.”

    Lenovo’s Butler said the configuration sweet spot has shifted; it’s now 32GB of memory and a minimum 512GB of storage. And screen sizes have edged up.

    “Most business laptops are in the 14- to 16-in. range,” said Roberts. “Anything smaller is quite cramped. Anything larger can be cumbersome to lug around — not to mention more expensive.”

    Whither AI PCs, then?

    Reith and Roberts differ on the fate of the AI PC/Copilot+ PC.

    “AI PCs are a solution looking for a problem,” Roberts argued. “Most end user computing managers won’t be swayed by this branding and additional feature set. … AI will continue to be delivered primarily via the cloud. I expect the CoPilot+ PC will go the way of the Ultrabook: branding attached to computers that are only marginally relevant to the people who buy and use them.”

    Reith, however, believes it’s more an issue of timing. “There’s a necessity to have on-device AI,” he said. “It’s just getting pushed forward a little bit to when that inflection point really starts to kick in.

    “…I’m trying to use my words cautiously, because we do not believe that this is dead in the water. It was a good chance that then passed. It’s just that the timing was really bad, which no one could have predicted. … But nobody’s really backing off of the developments. Supply side is now just shifting some of their business plans around products. 

    “…Whatever we thought was going to be the genAI PC volume in 2025, it’ll be slightly less than that, in our opinion,” Reith said. “But a lot of that will just get pushed forward to a ramp up that’s maybe more towards the end of this year, and certainly into 2026.”

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  • WordPress developer hours cutback may or may not slow innovation – Computerworld

    WordPress developer hours cutback may or may not slow innovation – Computerworld

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    “Automatticians who contributed to core will instead focus on for-profit projects within Automattic, such as WordPress.com, Pressable, WPVIP, Jetpack, and WooCommerce,” the statement said. “As part of this reset, Automattic will match its volunteering pledge to those made by WP Engine and other players in the ecosystem, or about 45 hours a week that qualify under the Five For the Future program as benefitting the entire community and not just a single company. These hours will likely go towards security and critical updates.”

    The implication is that the labor reallocations would be reversed were WP Engine to drop its lawsuit. Mullenweg said recent changes that WP Engine has made has altered his demands. He is no longer asking for money, for example.

    His original demand had been for payment; in late October, Mullenweg said WP Engine “could have avoided all of this for $32 million. This should have been very easy,” and he then accused WP Engine of having engaged in “18 months of gaslighting” and said, “that’s why I got so crazy.” 

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  • More than 4% PC shipment growth predicted for 2025, but not for what you expect, says IDC – Computerworld

    More than 4% PC shipment growth predicted for 2025, but not for what you expect, says IDC – Computerworld

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    More advanced PCs that can do more than other PCs (and humans, too) might eventually translate to less hardware shipped, he noted. However, it will be a net positive. “There’s going to be a lot of revenue gains from that, from the software side, cloud side, everything else.”

    Not so fast…

    Still, Reith noted, the industry has gotten a little ahead of itself when it comes to AI PCs. While they someday will become the norm — all modern laptops and desktops, after all, contain some sort of AI — that’s more of a long-term trend.

    This is notably because “budgets are constrained across the board,” said Reith. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a tech company, healthcare, whatever. When AI comes up, it’s, ‘Look, how much extra is that going to cost?’ It’s all about the dollar.”

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  • Google faces new labor board complaint over contractor union bargaining

    Google faces new labor board complaint over contractor union bargaining

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    The US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a fresh complaint against Google, alleging that the company acts as the employer of certain contract workers and must negotiate with their union, Reuters reports.

    The Board has said Google is a “joint employer” for roughly 50 San Francisco-based content creators hired through IT contractor Accenture Flex.

    These workers, who joined the Alphabet Workers Union in 2023, should be considered under the tech giant’s purview, according to the agency, the report said.

    An administrative judge will now hear the complaint, with the decision subject to review by the NLRB’s five-member panel.

    If the Board confirms Google’s status as a joint employer for the Accenture Flex contractors, the tech giant would be compelled to engage in collective bargaining and could be held accountable for breaches of federal labor law.

    NLRB is also looking into a separate complaint from October, which accuses Google and Accenture Flex of altering working conditions without consulting the union first, according to the report.

    This follows the NLRB’s January 2024 ruling requiring Google to negotiate with employees at YouTube Music — an Alphabet subsidiary — hired through a different staffing firm. Google has appealed the decision, and a US federal court is scheduled to review the case later this month.

    Google has faced growing labor challenges, marked by worker protests and layoffs. Last year, the company removed a $15-an-hour minimum wage for contractors and implemented changes aimed at sidestepping union negotiations.

    Implications for the industry

    Google has stated that it does not have sufficient control over contract workers to qualify as their joint employer, according to the report.

    The outcome of the case could set a precedent for how contract workers are treated across the tech industry, where companies frequently rely on third-party staffing firms.

    “Companies may need to rethink their mix of employment types and how they engage contract and gig workers,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and CEO at Greyhound Research. “In a worst-case scenario, this work could be moved to locations where such regulations don’t exist. Alternatively, companies might face additional compliance requirements, costs, and audits if the NLRB wins against major corporations.”

    Meanwhile, large corporations may need to adopt a more flexible stance on the issue, as the number of contract and gig workers is expected to grow, Gogia added.

    A decision against Google could also energize unionization efforts within the tech sector, offering a roadmap for organizing workers in an industry that has traditionally resisted union activity. “The topic is also profoundly interlinked with the country’s political climate,” Gogia said. “If one were to consider the past stand that the Trump administration had on the subject, it is clear that the concept of joint employer may not see the light of day after all.”

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